A Father's Love
by GoldSilver02
Summary: Donna Lerner Winston is the daughter Piney never had, thought he never wanted but somehow always needed.


_**Disclaimer**__: I own nothing. _

_**Pairing**__: Donna/Opie. Donna/Piney (father/daughter). Allusions to others._

_**Summary**__: Donna Lerner Winston is the daughter that Piney never had, thought he never wanted but somehow always needed. _

_**Author's Note**__: Donna from Piney's perspective. I've tried to keep it as in character as possible. It sort of goes into the history of Donna and the Winston's (all of them). Not going to lie, this came to me after re-watching season 1 and watching Jericho. Because Sprague Grayden is in it and honestly? How the hell does she not end up with Jake? First Opie and now Jake. Thus, this was born. Hopefully it's good. Lol. Thanks for reading and reviews are greatly appreciated, just please, no flames. Thanks! Also, I apologize for any mistakes and if I offend anyone. Okay, now onto the story!_

* * *

_A Father's Love_

_One-shot  
_

On behalf of every man

Looking out for every girl

You are the god and the weight of her world

John Mayer - _Daughters_

* * *

Piney Winston is the first person to meet Donna Lerner. She's only six but small for her age. She's lying on the grass, propped on her stomach and reading a book. It's almost nighttime, dusk falling on Charming. Normally, Piney wouldn't care. He'd constantly tell Donna over the years that he _almost_ never crossed the street to her. He'd argued with himself on the short walk, reminding himself that he doesn't know her, doesn't know her parents, shouldn't give a damn about her…but there was _something_ about her. Something about the small six-year-old girl, lying on the grass and reading a book, on her stomach that tugged at him.

"Shouldn't you be inside, kid?" Piney asks, his voice gravelly from years of smoking.

She looks up at him with startling blue eyes. She doesn't seem to be scared of him. She shrugs, her hair falling into her face. "I don't have a key." She says plainly. "Daddy's working. Mommy's working and I don't have a key."

"Don't you have a baby-sitter or something?"

She shakes her head. "I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."

Piney can see her tense, her small body going rigid, her eyes suddenly fearful and _goddamnit_, there's just something about this little girl that makes Piney weak. He _still_ doesn't know her, doesn't know her parents and really shouldn't give a damn, but he does and before he even knows what he's doing, he's reaching out his hand, "I'm Piney Winston and I live across the street from you." He gives her a small smile, trying to put her at ease, "see princess, guess I'm not a stranger anymore."

She's still a bit hesitant but she places her small hand in his. "My name is Donna Lerner and I'm six."

"I have a son who's nine."

She perks up at that. "What's his name?"

"Opie." There's a flash of pride when Piney thinks of his son.

Donna crinkles her nose. "_Opie_? Who names their kid _Opie_?"

Piney chuckles, "his real name is Harry, but who names their kid _Harry_?"

"You."

"Nah, princess, that was Mary's idea."

"Who's Mary?"

"My wife."

"Okay."

There's a lapse of silence and then Piney lets out a small sigh, "c'mon, get up."

"Where am I going?"

"To my house. Dinner should be ready soon and you shouldn't be out here on your own."

"I'm okay." Donna starts to say, her voice small and squeaky. "I've got Alice."

Piney looks around bewildered, "who the hell is Alice?"

"You shouldn't say that. Mommy says it's a bad word." She holds up the book in her hands, "and this is Alice. _Alice in Wonderland_. Haven't you ever read it?"

Piney lets out a choked laugh. "Nah, princess, I've never read _Alice in Wonderland_."

She bites her lip. "If I come over, can I read you Alice?"

"Sure princess, why not?"

She gets up and Piney realizes that she really is tinier than he expected. She's all knees and elbows, her face small and round. _Fragile_, is the word that comes to his mind and there's a sudden flare of protectiveness that rips through his body. Piney is no stranger to cruelty. He's been around long enough, seen enough, to know what happens to little girls who are alone.

"Why do you keep calling me princess?" She asks him, as she grabs her small pink backpack and slips it onto her shoulders. She grabs his hand and holds it tightly. "We're crossing the street." She tells him when he looks down at their intertwined hands. "I'm supposed to hold a grown up's hand when crossing the street."

He squeezes it once and leads her across the street to his house. "What else am I supposed to call you?" He responds to her first question.

"Donna."

He crinkles his nose and smiles down at her, "Nah, princess is better."

* * *

Later that night, after dinner, Piney and Opie creep to the garage, turn on the light and work on his bike. It's a tradition between the Winston boys, to get their hands dirty after they've just had dinner.

"Jeez, pop," Opie says, his voice breaking-Piney still teases him about going through puberty-"you starting an orphanage or something?"

Piney scowls at his son. "Shuddup. What was I supposed to do? _Leave her_?"

Opie shrugs, "she seems okay. Not like other girls. Other girls are weird."

"They don't get no less weird as they grow up." Piney informs him.

A throat clears behind them and both Winston boys turn around. Mary is standing in the doorway, with Donna standing behind her, her head poking around Mary's legs. Mary's staring at him, amusement in her eyes, "Donna tells me that you've got a promise to keep?"

"It's okay if you're busy." Donna says quickly, bowing her head.

Piney frowns and then sees the old tattered book held tightly in her hands. "Nah, c'mon princess, we'll sit on the swing-set." He looks over at his son and wife, "you two joining?"

"Oh, this, I've got to see." Mary proclaims.

Opie shrugs and nods his head, his eyes studying Donna.

They make their way outside and onto the front porch. Piney settles down onto the swing-set and picks up Donna to place her next to him. Opie hesitantly takes the seat next to her and Mary sits on the chair across from them. Donna opens the book, gives him a bright smile, takes a deep breath and begins to read. "_Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?'"_

* * *

Donna comes over to the Winston's house everyday after that. She's long since stopped knocking, just entering, shouting a greeting, her pink backpack on her shoulders and a story spilling from her lips. Mary loves her, that much is a given. Mary always wanted a daughter. Always wanted more children, but there were too many complications that arose from giving birth to Opie that more children just wasn't an option anymore.

So, Mary practically adopts Donna as a surrogate daughter. Only to find out that Donna prefers to be in jeans over dresses, sneakers over sandals and reading books over playing with dolls. She's a little disappointed of course, but Donna does her best to placate her with trying on dresses and Mary responds by listening to Donna read a book while preparing dinner.

Donna is ten when she first visits Teller-Morrow. Piney sees the familiar station wagon pull into the parking lot, with Mary in the driver's seat, knuckles white as she grips the steering wheel tightly. She has a distasteful look on her face. Piney can't really blame her. Mary hates the club, hates everything it stands for, but she loves the man.

He doesn't even see Donna until the back door flings open and her small body comes flying out of it. "Piney!" Donna squeals as she runs to him. He picks her up easily enough, a smile blossoming on her face. "I've missed you! I almost never see you anymore."

It's true; Piney spends more time at the clubhouse. He feels something in the air, something that's shifting. It's foreboding, warning him that something big is coming, that _everything_ is changing. "I've been busy working, princess."

"Mary said the car is making funny noises and that you're going to fix it because you're a car doctor." Her small hands are playing with his beard _why is she still so small? _He wonders, his chest tightening. "Then I said, _'he's not just a car doctor, he's an everything doctor_!'"

"Wasn't aware you had a daughter, Piney."

Piney takes in a deep breath and holds Donna closer to him. He can almost see the smirk on Clay Morrow's face. "Neighbor's kid."

"Right. She the one Ope keeps yapping about?"

Donna's head perks up at the sound of Opie's name. "Is Opie here?" She looks over his shoulder and around the lot. "Where's Opie?"

"You gotta crush on him?" A new voice cuts in, it's deep and nasally and Piney can feel his hands ball into fists.

Donna frowns, "he's my friend." She looks at Piney, "right? Opie's my friend."

"Of course he is princess." He turns his head and stares at Clay and Tig. "Don't you guys have a car to work on?"

"Just taking a break, saw Mary talking with Gem and then saw this one throw herself at you."

"Break's over." John Teller says, his voice deep as he walks beside Piney. He gives Donna a small smile. "I'm assuming you're Piney's little princess?"

Donna nods and buries her head in Piney's shoulder. She mumbles something as soon as the three of them leave and Piney frowns. "What did you say?"

She looks up at him, her blue eyes wide, "I don't like them very much."

"Them? Nah, princess, they're harmless. They'd never hurt you. Not when they know that you're my little princess." He promises her.

(Years later, there is a fury that burns a path through his soul when he realizes that Clay and Tig made him break his first promise to Donna).

* * *

Donna is thirteen when Mary leaves and takes Opie with her.

They've been having problems. Of course they've been having problems. They've always had problems, but it wasn't until recently that Mary's been adamant that the club is going to kill them. They get into shouting matches, the kind of shouting matches that should alert the police, but by now their entire block knows better than to call the cops on them. On _him_. On _SAMCRO_.

Mary would slam doors and break a glass but in the morning it would be all right. They'd go back to their same routine. Being husband and wife. Old Man and Old Lady. Then…one day, he woke up and she was gone and Opie was gone. And suddenly he's empty. It's as if she shot him and left him with a gaping wound.

So, he did what any self-respecting SAMCRO man would do when his Old Lady runs out on him and takes his only kid, his only _son_. He buried himself in hard liquor and whores.

It's about a week into his complete downward spiral binge; he's in the clubhouse in a spare room. _It smells like sex and alcohol_ is the first thing he thinks when he wakes up, the California sun burning his eyes. Then he sees Donna standing awkwardly against the door, her hands clasped in front of her. "Donna?" He asks groggily. He's dreaming, he's got to be dreaming. There's no way in hell, Donna is here, in the clubhouse, in his room.

"Morning." She replies softly. "I miss them too." She says after a moment of silence. "And they'll be back, you know. They could never leave you. They love you."

"Nah kid, Mary stopped loving me a while ago." _Well, the truth certainly stings._

She shakes her head, hair flying around wildly, "Opie loves you. He tells me all the time how proud he is of you. And Mary? Mary will always love you. I know because she always smiles when she talks about you. But…but Piney…they wouldn't…you shouldn't…why don't you go home Piney?"

"This is home." Piney mutters.

"I mean your actual home. I miss them too and mom and dad are still always working and I'm lonely and you're sad and lonely and I can't let you be sad and lonely. So, come on. When they come back, I'm sure they'd want the both of us to be home."

"What makes you think they're coming back?" Piney asks quietly, head pounding and eyes toward the ceiling.

"Because they _love_ you."

There's a full minute of silence when all he can hear are the voices of the guys in the lot, of cars passing by and birds chirping loudly. "All right princess, let's go home."

* * *

They fall into a routine. Donna goes to school, Piney goes to the clubhouse and then Donna goes to the house after school. She helps him clean, she tries cooking (they usually just end up ordering pizza) and she does her homework on the kitchen table, her books sprawled in front of her, chewing the end of her pencil.

They're in the middle of trying to get through a math question when the front door opens. Donna's head shoots up and she looks at Piney, eyes wide. Without waiting for any response, Donna bolts to the front hall and he can hear a small squeal. Piney gets up and rounds the corner to the front entrance. Opie is there (without Mary), his arms wrapped around Donna, head buried in her neck. He looks up and meets his father's eyes. "Hey pops."

"'Bout damn time."

* * *

Donna is sixteen when she and Opie start officially dating. That flare of protectiveness rears its head again when she and Ope tell him one night over supper. He pushes it away as quickly as it comes, because this is _OpieandDonna _and somehow…_somehow_ he knew this was going to happen. Somehow, _somewhere_ along the road, they stopped just being friends and started to become something more.

Her parents aren't supportive but they don't object. Mainly because they can't. For as long as Piney has known Donna, she's been protected, she's been watched over by either him, Opie or even Jax. Her parents respect what the Winston's have done for Donna, appreciate their protection, but they don't agree with the club, don't agree with its dominance in the small town.

_Kenny Winston is not what Piney expected. He's tall, standing at almost six feet and built of muscle; he'd be intimidating and would make a fantastic addition to the club, but he doesn't have the ferocity. He's a mild-mannered man who loves his daughter and works as a construction foreman in Lodi. _

_He has bright blue eyes (Donna's eyes) and a warm albeit tired smile. "Donna talks about you a lot." Kenny says quietly, "I can't thank you enough for looking out for her when Maggie and I can't."_

_Piney shrugs and takes a sip of his beer. His looks around him but his eyes constantly come to that spot, that one spot, where his son and Donna are sitting. Their heads are bent together, Donna's laugher piercing the night air. "She's grown on me." Piney says with a smirk. "She's a good kid. You and her mother raised her right."_

_Kenny nods and takes the compliment. He fiddles with his beer, his actions giving away his nervousness. "I know who you are. I know who the club is. I get that it's part of your life. I get that it's part of your son's life but it's not part of Donna's life. We've tried hard to keep Donna away from things like this. I can't…I won't…I don't want Donna to have to deal with everything."_

"_With what?"_

_Kenny shoots him a look and it's the only time Piney has ever seen that spark of anger in the younger man's eyes. "The other women. The alcohol. The tattoos. The worrying. The police constantly asking questions. Everyone else looking at her differently. My daughter doesn't know what it's like in that world. None of us do and I don't want her to be around people like that. I don't want my daughter hurt."_

"_Look, Kenny, I get it. Donna's your kid and you love her. You wanna do what's best for her…Ope and I, we'll take care of her. We'll make sure nothing happens to her."_

_They're silent for a few minutes, letting the conversation and laughter of their two children engulf them. "If anything happens to my daughter, Piney, I don't care who you are. I don't care who the club is, I'll kill you all."_

_The next Church meeting, Piney admits that yes, Opie is seeing Donna and could'ya imagine what her father said to me? He says it in jest, John laughs, understanding the protectiveness and there is a look shared between Tig and Clay that Piney doesn't understand and almost misses. Almost. _

(Kenny Lerner never has the chance to fulfill his promise. He and his wife are killed in a tragic car accident, leaving Donna heartbroken and an orphan).

* * *

Mary comes back for the funerals. Donna is the first one to see her and she wraps her arms around her waist and hugs her tightly.

(Donna doesn't speak. Doesn't eat. Every time she manages to open her mouth, she just sobs and it breaks Piney's heart to see her like this).

Mary turns on him as soon as Donna is out of earshot. "You rat bastard." Her eyes are hard and her voice is full of venom.

"Jesus woman, what _now_?"

"_This_! This is what I told you what would happen!"

"What are you yappin' about?"

"You killed that girl's parents."

He reels for a moment, as if shocked. "_What the fuck are you talking about_?"

"I told you the club would kill us. Look at what it's done to this marriage and now suddenly, Donna's parents are dead?"

"What does that have to do with the club?" He demands, his voice growing raspier by the minute.

"Kenny and Maggie have always been opposed to the club and God rest that woman's soul but Maggie didn't hide it. She_ hated_ Gemma when she was in high school and hated her even more as an adult. You don't think Gemma didn't let her husband and the other merry band of idiots in on what Maggie and Kenny think?"

"Mary." He says slowly, his mind spinning with information. "You're crazy. John-_the club_- had nothing to do with this. How could you even think _I_ would have anything to do with this? That _I_ would hurt _Donna_ this way?"

She lets out a harsh laugh. "You? Of course not. Maybe not even John but you'd be an idiot not to see that Gemma is moving away from John and closer to Clay and his lapdog Tig. Tell me that _they_ wouldn't do something like this."

This_ is_ something that Clay and Tig would do. It sounds exactly up their alley. "You're not making sense." As much as Clay and Tig get on his nerves, they're his _brothers_ and yeah, _okay_, he's noticed the distance between John and Gemma but they just recently lost a son, of course there's going to be distance.

"Piney, so help me God, if anything happens to Donna-"

"_Nothing _is going to happen to Donna." He's sure of it. _He_ won't let anything happen to Donna.

(But he does. Brothers or not, he should have put two fucking bullets in Clay and Tig's heads as soon as he found out the truth. Except, Clay gets to him first, which he figures is okay, because he's been an empty shell of a man since Donna died).

* * *

Donna and Opie get married when she's twenty. It's a small ceremony with the club members present (and Mary). Jax stands as best man and a friend of Donna's from high school stands as maid of honor.

Piney cheers the loudest and drinks the most because Opie and Donna are married and he can officially call Donna his _daughter_.

"Well, princess," he slurs happily as he puts an arm around her shoulder, "you're stuck with me."

She crinkles her nose, reminding him of the six-year-old version of her and smiles, "I think I can manage."

* * *

When Eleanor Winston is born, Piney teases both her and Opie about not bearing a son. "A girl? Really?"

Then he sees her, sees Eleanor Winston, bundled up in a pink blanket, her eyes staring up at him and he melts. He picks her up gently, as if terrified of hurting her. "Hey baby girl. I'm your grandpa."

"That little girl is going to have the both of us wrapped around her pinky finger." Opie calls out softly as he makes his way into the nursery. His son has a delirious smile of him face (a smile that only Donna can seem to bring out).

"Of course she will. She's just like her mother that way. Here's to hoping that she'll take after her mother and not_ you_."

He's just as much in awe when Kenny is born. He has plans for his grandson, a life full of Harley's, prospecting and brotherhood. He holds him gently and lets Ellie see her little brother as Donna gets some well-deserved rest.

(Piney will never know whom Ellie takes after. He'll never know if Kenny ends up prospecting or if they both decide to get out of this life, out of the shadow Clay has cast over the club. He hopes they do. He hopes they get the hell away from Charming, its poison and death).

* * *

Piney is well into his old age when Opie gets arrested and thrown into prison for five years. Donna cries as Opie is cuffed and driven away from them. Piney holds her and she wrenches away from him, yells that _this is his fault, it's the club's fault_.

She doesn't want anything to do with the club. Doesn't want anything to do with _him_. Piney knows, just knows that there is a stricken look that crosses his face because he sees her look guilty for a second.

"I never want to see you again."

Gemma tries to talk to her, tries to reach out to her, "honey, we can help you. We're family."

Donna laughs bitterly, tears streaming down her face. Piney's heart aches. "_Family_? Some_ family_. My _husband_ just got sentenced to five years in prison _because_ of this _family_. I don't need your help. I don't want your help. Stay the fuck away from me. _All of you."_

She leaves in a flurry, elbowing her way past people.

Piney lets her go.

Then he hunts down Kyle Hobart and gives him the beating of a lifetime.

(Jax is the one who has to rip him away from Kyle. They let him go, tell him to get out and never come back. He's exiled. _It's not enough_, Piney thinks, he wants the bastard dead for ripping apart his family).

* * *

Piney knocks on Donna's door one weekend and she opens it. She looks thinner than he's ever seen her, emphasizing her small frame and she looks tired. "Oh princess."

She bursts into tears on the spot. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Oh god, I'm _so sorry_!" She blubbers and then catapults into his arms.

"It's okay. It's okay princess, I'm here."

A little while later, he tucks Donna into bed, kisses her forehead and walks into the kids room. Ellie and Kenny are still small, eyes widening and smiles bright as they see him. "Shh," he says quietly, "mommy's sleeping."

"She cries all the time." Ellie says in a whisper. "Where's daddy?"

"He'll be back. How about I read you a book, yeah?"

Ellie and Kenny nod excitedly.

He spots a familiar torn book on the bookshelf and he smiles to himself. He picks it up and smiles at the well-read book. He takes a deep breath and starts to read. _"__Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?'"_

* * *

_This is not Donna_. He thinks. _This is not my daughter_.

But then he looks at the broken and bloodied woman on the pavement and hears his son's excruciating cry. He hears the despair and realizes that, _yes, yes it is Donna_.

And _oh, oh, princess, who did this to you_?

(He gets his answer and oddly, he's not as surprised as he should be. And this…_this_ is his breaking point. It wasn't John Teller's death, it's not Clay's reign or all the stupid shit they've done and dealt with, it wasn't even Mary leaving, no, it's _this_. It's seeing his daughter, _his daughter_, slaughtered like some sort of animal, which breaks his last tie with the club he helped build).

* * *

"_Hey Piney?" Donna asks him quietly. _

"_Yeah?" He replies as he takes a sip of his beer. He looks up at the night sky and takes a deep breath. It's night 253 of Opie's imprisonment and Piney's been spending more time with Donna and the kids. _

_She's silent, chewing her bottom lip and then she looks up at him, "I love you, you know that right?"_

"_Yeah, I know that." He bumps her shoulder with his and wraps an arm around her, pulling him close to her. "I love you too, you know that, right?"_

"_Yeah. Yeah I do."_

* * *

_So…I love Donna. I was really upset about Donna dying and I don't think I realized how upset I was until I recently re-watched season 1. So, here's Donna from Piney's perpective. It may be a little OOC but I tried as hard as I could to keep it in character. But I honestly think that Piney did have a soft spot for Donna. _

_Also, so has anyone watched Jericho? Because I'm seriously thinking of writing a crossover fanfiction of Jericho and SOA, obviously centered around Heather/Opie. What do you all think? Yay or nay? God, I've got so many stories flitting around my head. lol. Seriously though, thank you for reading this and again, I apologize for any mistakes!_

_Hopefully, you all like it! Thanks for taking the time to read this!_

_Thanks again, _

_**Bex**_


End file.
